White light flickered all around as the pain intensified. What was going on and why could she hear strangled screams, as the entire world seemed to go black around her. The pain exploding from her chest was one she had never imagined she would feel; then just like that everything was gone as she struggled to open her eyes. Images flashed through her mind as the screaming only continued and what sounded like claps of thunder continued to sound around her. She tried in vein to move, to do anything but just watched as the faces of people she didn't know continued to run through her mind, as if a slide show were being played. Then just like that everything stopped, the sounds ceased to exist and she could feel the cold creep into her body. What was going on? She'd only come here, wherever here was, because her friend had been in trouble. But for the life of her she couldn't remember the friend and exactly why they'd been in trouble, everything was passing as if warp speed and she couldn't understand anything. Then everything went black and she knew nothing else.
“It's been over a month, there's got to be a change in her condition,” a female voice broken with emotion, “you can't give up on her, she's in there somewhere!”
“I'm sorry Ms. Accord, but your friend is showing no visible signs of recovery. We managed to remove both bullets from her body but there was extensive internal damage. The blood loss was substantial and could've compromised her system. There's no way we can even determine if between the time your friend was found in the ally way and the time of the incident that she even had blood pumping to her brain. We've done everything we can for her but the longer she stays in a coma, the worst the chances are that she'll ever regain conscious,” Dr. Malone said with a heavy heart. The life of such a young person was hanging in the balance and nobody knew exactly how she'd ended up in the middle of a gang war. Shay McKenna had been beaten so badly that she was nearly unrecognizable and the bullets that had been logged within her chest and abdomen had caused an extreme amount of internal damage that had only just been repaired. Things had looked bad from the beginning and it was a miracle the woman had made it through the first four surgeries. On top of the surgeries it appeared she'd received several blows to the head and had resulted in the comatose state she now appeared in, “if anything changes we will be sure to phone you, Ashdonabee. I suggest you get some rest, if she does wake up she'll need all the support she can get.”
With that the doctor left the room, leaving the raven-haired woman sitting in a chair beside her friend's bed, hands clasped tightly together. The tears never stopped falling as she took in the fiery redhead who looked deathly pale. How was she going to say goodbye to her best friend? She wasn't ready for this but it was only a matter of time before the idea that Shay be moved to the terminal care wing was suggested. Was Ashdonabee going to be strong enough to do that? Because really there was no one else to do it, as Shay never talked about her family and often hinted that she knew nothing about them or if they were even still alive.
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Taking a deep breath as she entered the hospital like she did every morning, flowers in hand. She was going to see her best friend, the one person who no matter what she could depend on. The one person who had helped her put the pieces of her life back together after her divorce. She couldn't imagine a life without her at all. She stepped off the elevator and headed towards the room she could find in her sleep at this point. Guilt ripped through her as it did every time, it was her fault that Shay was here, laying unconscious and unresponsive to anything. No one could convince her otherwise in the matter, not even the police or investigators who had been by numerous times to talk to her. She had asked Shay to come get her, her ex-husband had been standing outside her work, waiting for her to leave and she didn't know what to do. "If only I had been a stronger person", she whispered standing in the door to the room, "I wouldn’t have called".
Making her way to the bed she set the flowers on the night table and leaned down kissing her friends forehead, "Morning Shay, just so you know you aren't missing much on the outside world, it's raining so hard out there", sitting down in the chair she had strategically placed beside her bed. Reaching over she took the lifeless hand and massaged it softly, "you know you should really wake up, I have no one to argue with anymore, well okay that's not the only reason I want you awake."
She just sat there starring at her friend, her chest rising and falling from the breathing tube. The doctor had told her to continue talking to Shay; maybe hearing someone was waiting would snap her out of it. That had been six weeks ago and nothing had changed, not even an eye flutter. She squeezed her hand, "if you hear me Shay just squeeze my hand, let me know you're coming back to me.”
She let her tears fall slowly, letting them run down her cheeks. She wanted her friend back, she wanted the people who did this to her lined up and shot. She was angry, and annoyed and pissed off at so many things in the world. Her whole being was exhausted, her body sore from sitting for hours on end in the same chair, but in her mind she had nowhere else to be. Her sister was laying in that bed and she planned on taking care of everything and anything she needed. Sighing as she watched the nurse come in to check her vitals. She gave up asking for changes a long time ago, because it all disappointed her to no end. The nurses would tell her if there was a change. She watched her draw a sample of blood before starting in with blood pressure, temperature and her heart rate.
"Seems her temperature is lowering, that's a good sign" the nurse smiled at her, marking everything on the chart before walking out of the room, patting her shoulder gently as she did.
"Well Shay, seems we can cross one thing off your list now" as she took out a day planner and quickly noted down the time and the change in her friend. There were more empty squares then not but at the same time, each little thing, no matter how small gave her hope. She settled back into the chair, preparing for her stay like she had every other day. Leaning her head back she closed her eyes and took a deep breath her hand resting under the others in case she felt a movement. Every day she had the same routine over and over again, right now it was time to relax and maybe she would fall into a soft sleep.
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"Have you gotten any leads yet on suspects?" she questioned the officer as she shouldered her phone and went about tidying up her friends room, tossing out old flowers and rearranging cards, letting out a sigh, "I guess it's just a waiting game right? Nothing showed up on the surveillance videos from all the places around? Oh okay..." hearing that they were just trying to identify the faces, "no there hasn't been any change, though her vitals are slowly improving every day. I'm just hopeful things will turn around. Thank you officer, I will keep you posted, and please call me when you know anything at all."
She moved to take her seat in the chair again beside her bed, just watching her friend lay there was killing her; was taking every ounce of energy she had right out of her body. Feeling her phone vibrate in her lap she jumped slightly before answering it, “Hello Ash speaking”.
“Hey, it’s Brian, we just got in town and I wanted to know if we could get together and discuss those songs you sent me a few months ago.”
Groaning as she tilted her head back slightly, “Shit Brian, I totally forgot I sent those things to you. I’ve just been so busy taking care of Shay that it all slipped my mind” as she ran a hand through her dark hair, standing to pacing the room, “I don’t really know when would be a good time, how long are you guys here for?”
“For a couple weeks, what’s wrong with Shay anyway? It was like you two dropped off the face of the earth, none of us have heard from you,” came a muffled reply before she heard someone in the background start asking questions.
“It would be better to tell you in person then over the phone, I just don’t know when I can meet you. Suggest a time, preferably in the evening and we’ll go from there,” came her soft reply, as she turned her gaze to her friend. She nodded as he mentioned tomorrow night, “Yah that would work, I can meet you in the hotel bar or something if that works for you, just email me over where you are staying and I’ll make sure to make it there.” She nodded her head a few times before closing her phone and letting out a sigh, “Well seems work waits for no woman huh Shay? The guys are in town, I’m going to go meet them tomorrow and talk about our music, see where it goes from there. I wish you were coming with me girl, you always were the best at talking the business end.”
